New American Realism

Oh, and while the king was looking down,
The jester stole his thorny crown.
The courtroom was adjourned;
No verdict was returned
--American Pie, Don McLean

Look at the earth from outer space
Everyone must find a place
Give me time and give me space
Give me real, don't give me fake
--Politik, Coldplay
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Condoleeza Rice has a work of fiction in Foreign Affairs magazine July/Aug 2008 called "American Realism for A New World." Not to be outdone, former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, modern father of realpolitik, wrote, "New Premises in Iraq" and "Finding Common Ground with Russia" (Washington Post, 7.31.08/7.08.08).

From Ms. Rice's article, the same old rhetoric:

"The process of democratization is likely to be messy and unsatisfactory, but it is absolutely necessary."

"But our approach is, in reality, an extension of traditional tenets -- incorporating human rights and the promotion of democratic development into a policy meant to further our national interest."

But then some real doozys:

"This is the great innovation of the Millennium Challenge Account initiative. More broadly, we are now better aligning our foreign aid with our foreign policy goals -- so as to help developing countries move from war to peace, poverty to prosperity, poor governance to democracy and the rule of law. At the same time, we have launched historic efforts to help remove obstacles to democratic development -- by forgiving old debts, feeding the hungry, expanding access to education, and fighting pandemics such as malaria and HIV/AIDS."

Maybe we get some of that Millennium Challenge here in the homeland. Shifting from "poor governance to the rule of law" -- what a nice start. On the "forgiving debts" thing, maybe that will work with our own incomprehensible budget deficit. I've heard that is a very Christian thing to do -- to forgive oneself.

The following contains a shameless lie:

"The same values that lead to success in the United States also lead to success in the world: industriousness, innovation, entrepreneurialism. All of these positive habits, and more, are reinforced by our system of education, which leads the world in teaching children not what to think but how to think -- how to address problems critically and solve them creatively." Lie.

Our system of education, the Bush Bros. "No Child Left Behind," squelches creativity in the service of uniformity. It in fact teaches them not "how to think" but "what to think. It is quintessential teaching to a test.

Both writers seem to be gunning for Secretary of State slot should McCain win the election. Both offer a good road map for slipping, sliding and slithering around the world arena. Really nice stuff, except none of it is reality-based. American realism is not real if it is bankrupting our nation.

We simply do not have the resources to continue running around the world playing sheriff.

Ranger's New American Realism: What are we going to do about this year's $597 billion deficit?

--Jim and Lisa